| This thesis describes the cervical muscle activity and range of motion during driving and associated tasks. The first study describes the amplitude of muscle activity during residential and throughway driving with specific interest in areas of high prevalence of accidents. The determination of level of activation of cervical muscles and low level sustained muscle activity has implications on risk of injury in the case of collision and fatigue. There was high degree of variability in muscle activity during normal driving. The overall level was relatively low, with the upper fibres of trapezius (<13% MVC), sternocleidomastoid (<6.0% MVC) and splenius capitus (<10% MVC). The second study describes the utilized cervical axial rotation during residential, throughway and highway driving and associated tasks. Utilized range in areas of high accident prevalence will determine the corresponding neck positions. There was a high degree of variability between subjects' cervical axial rotation during normal driving. The majority of movement was within a range of 20° on either side of neutral. |
